Jauan Jennings missed out on his first 1,000-yard season last week in bizarre circumstances as he was ejected from the San Francisco 49ers’ season finale, but six days later the wide receiver received vindication from the league that he deserved to stay on the field.
Jennings was ejected in the second quarter of the 49ers’ Week 18 defeat to the Arizona Cardinals, the wideout tossed from the game after successive personal foul calls following scuffles with two Cards players who objected to his aggressive blocking.
It meant he left the contest 25 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard campaign, with head coach Kyle Shanahan conceding after the game that he had no idea why Jennings was ejected.
“They were competing,” Shanahan said of Jennings’ altercation with Sean Murphy-Bunting that saw him ejected.
“I know Jauan blocks through the whistle on every single play. I know you usually get ejected for throwing a punch. I didn’t see one and he didn’t tell me that he threw a punch, so that is something we’re going to have to find out. It wasn’t (an) animated (discussion), I was just asking him if he ever threw a punch and he was adamant that he didn’t. I was like, that’s what I saw so I was surprised he got ejected.”
And the NFL clearly agrees with Shanahan that the ejection was not merited. The league did not issue Jennings with a fine for his involvement in either incident.
By contrast, both Cardinals players involved in the back-to-back scuffles were fined. Starling Thomas was fined $5,083 for his part in the first fracas, while Murphy-Bunting received a fine of $11,817 for slinging Jennings to the ground in an incident that saw an official injured and both players ejected.
Had Jennings been punished, it would have been a second fine in as many weeks for the wideout. He was fined $11,817 for a similar incident involving Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold in the Niners’ Week 17 defeat to Detroit.
While Jennings has avoided a further blow to his wallet, fullback Kyle Juszczyk was fined $16,619 for use of the helmet in the first quarter.
